Latin American Library Greenleaf Fellow Gina Ruz Rojas to present research on carnival and independence festivals in Cartagena

Please join the Latin American Library in welcoming Gina Ruz Rojas, a 2018-2019 LAL Richard E. Greenleaf scholar, who will be giving a work-in-progress talk titled Cartagena de Indias y el Caribe: Carnavales y Fiestas de Independencia/Cartagena de Indias and the Caribbean: Carnivals and Independence Festivities on Thursday, March 21, from 3:00 – 5:00 PM in the Latin American Library seminar room.

Abstract
Since 1812, the Colombian Caribbean city of Cartagena de Indias has celebrated its independence from Spain through local Fiestas de Independencia, or Independence Day festivities. From the early 19th century to the 1930s, this festival coexisted with carnival traditions in tandem with the Catholic calendar and stemming from the colonial period. Even though disappeared, some of these carnival traditions continue to be present in the patriotic festival as celebrated today. In other words, in Cartagena de Indias we have elements of two different traditions – on one hand, the Independence festivities while, on the other, festival practices stemming from carnival traditions, which tend to disrupt the established order. My research will identify nuances, hybridizations, traces of contributions, traditions, and modes of communication between carnivals of the Caribbean and their manifestations in Cartagena through a comparative analysis.

Gina Ruz Rojas is a professor and research associate at the Research and Innovation Laboratory in Culture and Development L + iD of Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. She holds a Law degree from Universidad de Cartagena and a Master‘s degree in Development and Culture from Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar. She has spearheaded various projects promoting culture and the arts and is the author of several articles on festivals and culture, including Fiestas de Independencia: El tambor que no calla, in Los desterrados del paraíso; Raza, pobreza y cultura en Cartagena de Indias (2015) and Cartagena: reinas, fiesta e independencia, in La Fiesta en Colombia (2017). She also co-authored a study, Las Fiestas de Independencia de Cartagena como patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la Nación colombiana, which is part of a dossier presented to the Colombian Ministry of Culture to include Cartagena’s Fiestas de la Independencia as Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation (2016).

The Richard E. Greenleaf Fellowship Program at the Latin American Library is made possible by a generous gift from the late Richard E. Greenleaf.

About Richard E. Greenleaf (1930-2011)
Until his retirement in 1998, Richard E. Greenleaf served as the France Vinton Scholes Professor of Colonial Latin American History, and as the Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. He also served as Chair of the Department of History. Dr. Greenleaf grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and took his Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees at the University of New Mexico, where he studied under the dean of Inquisition scholars, France V. Scholes. Greenleaf’s doctoral dissertation, Zumárraga and the Mexican Inquisition 1536-1543, served as the basis for his many excellent publications on the history of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Latin America. Greenleaf authored eleven major scholarly books, co-authored or contributed to seventeen others, and published almost four dozen articles in the field of Latin American and New Mexico history. He was the recipient of many distinguished awards, among them the Silver Medal, the Sahagún Prize (Mexican National History Award), and the Serra Award of the Academy of American Franciscan History for Distinguished Scholarship in Colonial Latin American History. In his long and distinguished teaching career in New Mexico, Mexico City and New Orleans, Greenleaf served as mentor to 34 doctoral students at Tulane, and countless masters and undergraduate students. Richard E. Greenleaf died on November 8, 2011.

Critical Issues in Democratic Governance: Spring 2019 CIPR Series

Latin America faces major threats to democratic governance, but there are also new opportunities for grassroots mobilization and social policy expansion. In Critical Issues in Democratic Governance the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research will host speakers to discuss emerging issues that have surfaced in democratic governance in the region. In Brazil, the AIDS movement constructed a powerful new advocacy coalition, with coordination between bureaucrats and activities. In Argentina and Brazil, there are sharp contrasts in the social welfare policies that governors and mayors have implemented, with profound consequences for livelihood of the poor and marginalized. Finally, the outbreak of violence across Latin America, under democratic regimes raises questions about how criminal organizations compete for influence over transnational illicit networks and infiltrate the state.

Workshop and panel discussion of Azul at the Southern Rep Theatre

The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute at Tulane University, in collaboration with the Southern Rep Theatre, are proud to announce two events in celebration of the reopening of the Southern Rep Theatre and the spring premiere of the play Azul written by Christina Quintana, a New York-based writer with Cuban and Louisiana roots, and Estefanía Fadul, a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised, New York City-based director and producer. In this evocative new play, lifelong New Yorker Zelia struggles to center herself after the loss of her Cuban-born mother. As Zelia digs into her mother’s legacy, she learns of her tía-abuela, the great-aunt who remained in Cuba for the love of another woman. Echoes of the past inform Zelia’s own relationship with her wife and her struggle to place herself between worlds. A workshop with Christina Quintana will take place on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 4:00 PM in the Greenleaf Conference Room (100A Jones Hall). There will also be a Panel Discussion before the play at the Southern Rep Theatre on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

The 13,000-square-foot former St. Rose de Lima Church on Bayou Road has given Southern Rep Theatre a permanent home, something it had lost since leaving Canal Place. The history of the project and more information about the theatre space may be found in the New Orleans Advocate article Southern Rep finds new home in former church.

Southern Rep Theatre will be showing Azul beginning March 27 continuing through April 14, 2019. Group tickets will be available for classes or student organizations. Tickets will be available at a reduced price for students, educators and young professionals at the following prices:

All student rush tickets are $10 at the door with ID, plus box office fees = $13 (subject to availability)

All teacher tickets are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees

All under-35 tickets (“young professionals”) are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees

Bate Papo! Practice you Portuguese during the spring semester

Every Friday during the Spring 2019 semester, practice your Portuguese in an informal setting where students can enjoy some delicious homemade Brazilian treats and conversation! Admission is free. All levels welcome. For more information, please contact Megwen at portuguese@tulane.edu. These events are sponsored by TULASO and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

25 de janeiro, 11hrs / January 25, 11 AMLBC “Pocket Park”
We’re getting back into the groove. Join us for peanut-flavored brigadeiro, called cajuzinho. We’ll be in Pocket Park or inside the LBC near the water features in case it‘s too cold outside.

1 de fevereiro, 14hrs / February 1, 2 PMLBC “Pocket Park”
Special edition bate-papo! Join Tulane, Loyola and Xavier students and faculty from Africana Studies, Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American Studies as we celebrate Black History Month. We will be doing a bilingual poetry reading of O Navio Negreiro followed by bate-papo. We will eat cocada, a reference to the millions of lives destroyed on the sugar cane plantations of the northeast of Brazil. This event is sponsored by Africana Studies, TULASO and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

8 de fevereiro, 16:30hrs / February 8, 4:30 PM
4th floor Howard Tilton Library
Special edition bate-papo! Join us on the 4th floor of the Howard Tilton library for an Amazon-themed bate-papo before the Amazônia Ocupada event in the Latin American library. We’ll dine on açaí-infused brigadeiros to get you ready for the visceral photographic exhibit.

14 de fevereiro, 19hrs / February 14, 7 PM
Warren Residence Hall
Special edition bate-papo! We’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a recent LGBT film Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho. Also, free beijinhos. And by that we mean coconut-flavored brigadeiros, not kisses.

22 de fevereiro, 12hrs / February 22, 12 PM
PJs Coffee on Willow
Join us as we put PJs coffee to shame with our very own brigadeiro cappuccino. We’ll meet at PJs on Willow at noon to add some zip to your day.

1 de março, 14hrs / March 1, 2 PM
Sharp Residence Hall
Special edition bate-papo! Up late last night? This will get you out of bed! Join us in the lobby of Sharp Hall for a professional dessert chef’s particularly decadent take on our cuisine theme: bolo de brigadeiro. That basically translates to a brigadeiro lava cake; not to miss.

15 de março, 10hrs / March 15, 10 AMLBC Mezzanine
Welcome back, everyone! Join us this week for brigadeiro de leite ninho in the LBC Mezzanine. See you at 10 AM!

22 de março, 13:30hrs / March 22, 1:30 PM
Labyrinth Café on 7102 Freret St.Special edition bate-papo! Join us for a bate-papo alongside a special film showing of Alapini. Instead of popcorn, we’ll have brigadeiro de biscoito maria as a snack.

29 de março, 15hrs / March 29, 3 PM
Greenbaum House
Special edition bate-papo! We’ll be learning the art of brigadeiro in the Greenbaum House. Join us to learn how to make a brigadeiro de Nutella. Don’t worry: we’ll be sure to sample as we go.

5 de abril, 12hrs / April 5, 12 PMLBC Mezzanine
This week we‘re bringing two great chocolate traditions together: brigadeiro and oreo cookies. Join us for a taste in the LBC Mezzanine at noon.

12 de abril, 11hrs / April 12, 11 AMLBC “Pocket Park”
Special edition bate-papo! This week we celebrate gaúcho culture. We’ll be drinking chimarrão alongside our brigadeiro de tapioca and someone will leave with a mate gourd. Find us at 11 AM in Pocket Park.

26 de abril, 14hrs / April 26, 2 PM
O “Boot”
We made it! Celebrate the end of classes with some strawberry sweet: brigadeiro bicho de pé. Meet you outside the Boot at 2 PM.

The 2019 Global Read Webinar Series will focus on the theme diversity in children’s literature. Each webinar will feature a presentation by an award-winning author with discussion on how to incorporate multicultural literature into the classroom. The books are appropriate for students in grades 7 – 12. Please read along with us this spring as we explore the world through these award-winning books. We encourage all readers to join in on the conversations each month and ask the author your own questions live.

Be sure to join the conversation with our webinar hashtag #2019ReadingAcrossCultures.

January 22, 2019Middle East Book Award
The first webinar of the series is co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University and the Middle East Outreach Council. The webinar will explore the book, The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Joukhadar, winner of the 2018 Middle East Book Award for Youth Literature. The Map of Salt and Stars is part cartography, part poetry, and part call to action. The gripping narrative interweaves the journeys of two strong and intelligent female protagonists: Nour, a Syrian-American girl escaping the violence of the civil war, and Rawiya, a 12th-century girl who dresses as a boy to become apprentice to the famous mapmaker al-Idrisi. Beautifully written descriptions of Nour’s synesthesia help us understand her experiences in new ways.

February 15, 2019Africana Book Award
This month’s book award is sponsored by the Africana Book Award. Please join us in learning more about the book, When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina. This fictionalized account of a student uprising that began in Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, unfolds through the first-person narratives of four young adults from different backgrounds whose lives intersect. An African student, Zanele, secretly organizes the protest against the Afrikaans Medium Decree Act, which required the use of English and Afrikaans (“the language of the oppressors”) in schools. Her apolitical friend Thabo heads a local gang, extorting money from an Indian store owner, whose daughter Meena, is sympathetic to the students. Meanwhile, Jack, a white Afrikaner, meets, befriends, and comes to love Zanele.

March 20, 2019Américas Book Award
We will explore the book, Lucky, Broken Girl by Ruth Behar a 2018 Honorable mention Américas Book and winner of the 2018 Pura Belpré award. In this unforgettable multicultural coming-of-age novel – based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s – a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed. Ruthie’s plight will intrigue readers and her powerful story of strength and resilience, full of color, light, and poignancy, will stay with them for a long time. Additional support generously provided by Florida International University, Tulane University, University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Utah.

AprilFreeman Book Award
Join the Freeman Award for an evening with author Alan Gratz and his book, Grenade. It’s 1945, and the world is in the grip of war. Hideki lives on Okinawa, an island near Japan. When he is drafted to fight for the Japanese army, he is handed a grenade and told: Don’t come back until you’ve killed an American soldier. Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa. This is Ray’s first-ever battle and all he knows is that the enemy is everywhere. Hideki and Ray each fight their way across the island, surviving heart-pounding clashes and dangerous attacks. But when the two of them collide in the middle of the battle, the choices they make in that single instant will change everything.

May 8, 2019South Asia Book Award and picture books from all book awards
The South Asia Book Award highlights the work of Mitali Perkins with her work, You Bring the Distant Near. Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity.